


Alone In The Darkening

by Lofwyr



Category: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Because I want Deet to be okay, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lady And Knight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 01:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20537936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lofwyr/pseuds/Lofwyr
Summary: Deet struggles with the Darkening, until she is reminded that she doesn't have to be alone with it.





	Alone In The Darkening

Deet couldn’t remember how much time had passed since she’d last seen the suns. Had it been days? Weeks? Hours? Years? She tried to think about it, but every time she felt her mind running against a cold wall.

She was deep in the caverns, and she’d found a spot that she felt was far away enough from everyone and everything else that she couldn’t contaminate anything with the Darkening. It was a small opening in the cavern passage, big enough for her to have a makeshift bed and some space. She could hear the rhythmic, regular blowing of the Breath of Thra just beyond her cavern, carrying warm air into her space.

Not that she could feel the warmth very much – even with a blanket she still felt cold. The Darkening still pulsed beneath her skin, draining away any warmth she made just as quickly as she could produce it. She could feel the energy straining against her skin, desperately trying to burst from her and spread throughout the cavern.

It took far too much effort for Deet to keep the Darkening where it was inside her. Most of the time it just coursed through her veins, siphoning away her warmth. Sometimes it took up residence in her head, freezing her mind and making her thoughts feel like wading through deep sand. Other times it had physically pressed against her skin, straining and tightening it around her hands and arms as it tried to force its way out. She didn’t understand how the Sanctuary Tree had withstood it for so long. Deet was barely holding it together; it took so much focus to keep it under control and not let it spread from her as it had before.

She closed her now-purple eyes and rubbed them to try and ease the pain, wiping away tears. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept; every time she tried, she couldn’t help but think back to the Emperor unleashing the Darkening from his staff, how she’d managed to absorb and redirect it almost without thinking; her memory of the Collector’s head exploding from the Darkening always shocked her awake and made her gag and retch. Deet lay on the ground, staring up at the rock above her, listening to the Breath of Thra outside and trying to ignore the sensations of The Darkening through her, desperately hoping that it would work this time.

‘Deet?’

The echo is distant – Deet thought she was imagining it at first, so she ignored it, another trick of the Darkening.

_‘Deet?’_

She forced herself to sit upright, feeling a wave of nausea and dizziness hit her as she moved; she’d definitely heard it that time, but she couldn’t quite…

‘DEET?’

For the first time in too long, Deet smiled – she recognised the voice. It was echoing, but she didn’t think it was too far away.

‘Hup?’ Deet tried to call louder, but she felt a surge of the Darkening inside her, as though it had heard Hup too and wanted to rush out and meet him. It took focused effort for Deet to stop it and make it settle down.

‘Deet – Hup coming! Hup sorry Hup late!’ Hup’s voice was a lot closer now, and Deet could see a light coming around the corner of the tunnel towards her cavern.

‘Hup, please don’t come! It’s – I’m dangerous!’ Deet called.

Hup turned the corner and stopped. His arm was still in a sling, and he had his spoon hanging by his side. He held a lantern that produced a warm light and he had a very full-looking bag over one shoulder.

He smiled when he saw Deet. ‘Deet alive! Good!’

Deet shook her head. ‘Hup… you shouldn’t be here,’ she said as she forced herself to stay sitting upright.

‘No – Hup help Deet,’ he said in Podling as he set the bag down. Deet saw that the bag was full to almost bursting, and it almost spilled over when Hup opened it and started taking things out.

‘But I’m dangerous. What if the Darkening infects you?’ Deet protested.

Hup didn’t answer, instead continuing to unload his pack. Deet saw bottles of fresh water, bread, berries, fresh fruits, two cups, some glowing moss that she knew was edible, dried fruits and small strips of meat, and a round object wrapped in cloth.

‘How much food did you bring, Hup?’ Deet asked, feeling her stomach growl at the sight of it all.

‘Some. Deet hungry?’ Hup asked.

Deet nodded eagerly. She managed to push herself upright and went over to Hup, but she had to stop herself when she felt the Darkening surge through her again. This time she felt a frigid force push against her skin and out towards Hup, as if it was trying to tear its way out from her skin to reach him, claw at him, draw the Darkening into him. Deet screamed and hurled herself backwards against the cavern wall, feeling the force subside as she pulled away from Hup.

‘Deet!’ Hup cried, starting to rush forward as Deet slid to the ground.

‘No Hup – you can’t!’ Deet managed to gasp, stopping Hup in his tracks. She paused to catch her breath before she spoke again, her voice laboured and weak. ‘You can’t… you can’t be here Hup. You… you have to leave me alone,’ she managed to gasp as she forced the Darkening to ebb back down.

Hup didn’t move. At first Deet wasn’t sure he’d heard her, but then she managed to push past the Darkening surge inside her and saw that he was trembling, tears trickling down his face.

‘Hup?’

Hup shook his head and wiped his eyes with his good arm. ‘No… Hup want to stay,’ he said in Podling, his voice cracking with every word. ‘Hup is Paladin. Paladin keeps promises, and… and Hup promise to help Deet. If Deet stay here and… and Hup not come, then Hup not being Paladin. Not being friend.’

Deet felt tears rolling down her face as Hup spoke. ‘I…’

Hup sniffed. ‘Hup happy to see Deet still Deet. Is Deet happy to see Hup?’

For the first time in what felt like a long time, Deet felt a burst of warmth through her, and the cold of the Darkening receded, if only for a moment. ‘Yes Hup – I’m very happy to see you. Thank you for coming and bringing me food.’

Hup nodded, a smile on his face as he went back to where he’d unloaded the food. ‘Is okay – Hup stay with Deet, go and get more food later, make sure Deet stay okay, yes?’

‘All right – but don't get too close,’ Deet said, feeling the warmth pulse through her again as Hup loaded a plate of food and brought it as close to her as he felt was safe. He stopped a short distance away before putting the plate down, then drew his spoon and used it to carefully push the plate closer, cursing in Podling when the plate wobbled and spilt a couple of small pieces of fruit onto the ground.

Hup looked up and watched as Deet went over to where he’d managed to push the plate; she felt the Darkening try to surge towards him again but she was able to suppress it and took the plate back to the opposite wall of the cavern. She started eating almost as soon as she sat down – the taste of the moss brought back memories of home and she let it dissolve slowly in her mouth, feeling the sparking on her tongue as it dissolved. She hadn’t realised how hungry and thirsty she was until she started eating.

As she ate, she watched Hup move about the cavern, carefully laying out three blankets that he’d unrolled from his pack. Each one was thick and looked warm, and she noticed that each one had the symbols of different clans woven into them. One was made of thick moss and leaves and had the Grottan clan symbol etched into it with glowing moss; one was different shades of brown and green and woven from wool, with the Stonewood clan symbol stitched into it with thread the colour of autumn leaves; and the third was light and made of shimmering, smooth grey cloth that looked like a stream frozen in time, with the Vapran clan symbol sewn into it with golden thread.

‘Hup, where did you get those blankets?’ Deet asked.

Hup looked up and showed the blankets one at time. ‘This one Fathers and Bobb’n, this one Rian, this one Brea. All help Hup find Deet.’

Deet started to cry again as she felt a pang of longing pulse through her. ‘I miss them all…’

Deet felt something soft hit her in the head; she looked up and saw Hup had thrown the blanket from her family at her. ‘Deet have hope, yes?’ Hup asked in Podling. ‘Deet feel better?’

Deet dried her eyes and wrapped the blanket around herself; she closed her eyes and imagined how things were at home, listening to the Dads talk, playing with Bobb’n or telling him about the cavern creatures, the warm familiarity of their little underground home. She felt the warmth pulse through her again, keeping pace with her own heartbeat.

‘Yes, yes I do, just a little bit. Thank you Hup.’

Hup nodded happily and picked his bag up. ‘Hup come back very soon – more bags.’

‘_More_ bags?’

‘Yes – Lore help Hup carry bags. Hup need many thing to help make Deet home!’ Hup explained before he left the cavern and started back up the tunnel, singing the song he sang when he was in the rascal hole at Stone-in-the-Wood.

Deet closed her eyes again, listening to Hup’s voice echo through the tunnel as he made his way back up to the surface. She wrapped herself tighter in the blanket, feeling the Darkening inside her recede a little, the dark energy not trying to drain her warmth or surge out of her for once in what felt like far too long. She went over and picked the other two blankets up, piling them both on top of her and feeling the pressure and warmth combine to relax her tired and aching body.

She lay down, cocooned in her blankets, feeling the Darkening retreat into a tight, angry core deep in her body as she felt the warmth soak into her, the Breath of Thra her lullaby, gently guiding her to the first sleep she’d had in a long time. She smiled as she drifted off, happy with the knowledge that she wasn’t forgotten, that she was still being watched over and cared for even down here.

That she wasn’t alone any more.


End file.
